Elections 2014: Big bucks spent on mega rallies

In a show of strength in the city for the April 24 elections, the Shiv Sena-BJP and Congress-NCP combine are leaving no stone unturned to draw huge crowd at their rallies

In a show of strength in the city for the April 24 elections, the Shiv Sena-BJP and Congress-NCP combine are leaving no stone unturned to draw huge crowd at their rallies. A whopping amount of money is being spent to organise rallies, which would be addressed by stalwarts of the respective parties.

For the April 20 rally organised by the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC), which will be addressed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and other leaders from the state, the party has spent over R30 lakh for the event at the MMRDA grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex.

The city Congress unit has spent Rs 30,63,853, including Rs 22,97,890 as security deposit and R3,78,692 as service tax, for the mega-rally, which will also see participation of alliance partners Nationalist Congress Party and People’s Republican Party, headed by Prof Jogendra Kawade.

The party unit has asked every MLA from the city and suburbs to ensure a crowd of about 5,000 with them. Mumbai is crucial for the Congress, which won five seats in 2009. The sixth seat was bagged by its ally NCP. Similarly, the Shiv Sena-BJP combine has also spent about Rs 34 lakh for their joint rally, which will be addressed by Narendra Modi and Uddhav Thackeray on April 21.